Court: spite isn't a reason to deny driver's licenses

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A federal appeals court this morning blocked Gov. Jan Brewer from denying driver's licenses to immigrants who were brought here illegally as kids but have been granted the temporary right to be stay.

Spite, it seems, isn't a legal justification for unequal treatment under the law.

Brewer has steaming since June 2012, when President Obama announced he would defer the deportation of thousands of immigrants who were brought here illegally as children. As a result, about 20,000 of them in Arizona can now get jobs. They just can't drive to those jobs.

Within hours of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program kicking in in August 2012, Brewer directed the MVD to deny driver's licenses to those who got deferred deportation status under Obama's executive order.

Never mind that others who have similar deferrals – many as a result of fleeing domestic violence – have long been able to get Arizona driver's licenses. Over the last decade, Arizona has issued licenses and ID cards to nearly 40,000 non-citizens who had federal employment-authorization documents.

Brewer's decision to single out young immigrants who got the temporary right to stay here under Obama's executive order had nothing to do with protecting the public. Instead, it was about pandering to the base – the people who see red, not reason, when discussing the shades of gray in our failed immigration policy.

This particular group – kids who were brought here as children – is the most sympathetic of the immigrants here illegally and polls indicate that most people think they should be allowed to stay here in the only country they've ever known.

Denying them driver's licenses as they wait on Congress to do the right and inevitable thing, is all about spite, not sound policy.

This morning, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a unanimous opinion, agreed, and ordered that MVD dole out licenses until a trial on the legal issues.

Brewer has maintained that the DACA immigrants aren't "authorized" to be in the country and thus don't have the legal status to qualify for driver's licenses.

Judge Harry Pregerson, writing for the three-judge panel, said Brewer is singling out the DACA immigrants, a violation of the Equal Rights clause of the Constitution.

"Defendants' policy appears intended to express animus toward DACA recipients themselves, in part because of the federal government's policy toward them,'' he wrote. "Such animus, however, is not a legitimate state interest.''